Jelena lay stationary on a bed in the Retributor's
sickbay, with a large scanner draped over her chest.
It had been a difficult time for the young
Alderaanian noblewoman since being captured by the
Imperial Security Bureau, subjected to psychological
torture by Major Arden Zevrin, and then deposited
back in the arms of her estranged father as a pawn
in a sick mind game. An explosive device had been
affixed to her chest, which would explode under a
variety of different circumstances or on the whim of
Major Zevrin. She had not spoken to her father much
since the return, nor did she reconnect with her
siblings, but instead mostly remained in the fetal
position in her old room. Now she was back in
sickbay undergoing another battery of tests to
determine if there was anything that could be done
to remove or disarm the explosive. She let out a
dejected sigh as her blue eyes stared up blankly at
the lights that were hanging over her.

Doctor Pilaq Tohan had known Jelena her entire
life. In fact, he had known her *more* than her
entire life as he was responsible for her mother's
pre-natal care and delivered her nineteen years ago.
When she left the Warspite he had hoped she would
find peace and happiness, but now she was back here
going through this ordeal. His large, bulbous eyes
stared at the terminals as a 3D model of the device
was shown, directly adjacent to Jelena's beating
heart. It would take the skills of an engineer to
analyze the device further, but his limited
knowledge did allow him to realize that any attempt
on his part to remove it would almost certainly
cause a detonation. He moved slowly towards her,
extending his long digits of his hands to gently
comfort the teenager, by rubbing her hair.

Lieutenant Bethany Sheppard was in the supply
room, attempting to ensure that her mother's routine
supply packages had been properly forwarded to the
Retributor. Aboard the Warspite it seemed that she
rarely received any of them, as they had been
intercepted by the ISB and her friend, Captain
Trainor. She was determined to ensure the same thing
that did not happen aboard their new ship, and the
officer had repeatedly assured her that she would
immediately be notified when the packages arrived.
Before she left, she noticed that a package had been
left for the Governor's aide, Liliya Benedt, that
had been left in the unclaimed pile. Feeling bad how
her packages were apparently lost, she took it upon
herself to make sure the same fate did not befall
this one. Picking up, she proceeded towards the
turbolift that would take her to the level directly
below the Grand Moff's family, where the aide had
been given personal quarters so close that it was
the subject of whispers, rumors, and innuendos ...
that she enjoyed spreading herself. As she reached
the door, she pressed down on the buzzer to activate
the alarm on the other side of the door. After there
was no answer she wondered if the Governor was in
there now, and she began to imagine some seedy tale
to spread amongst the crew. She left the package at
the foot of the door, before scampering off with a
sly grin to spread some false gossip at the mess.

Claudius sat at his desk silently examining a
datapad with the latest list of political executions
demanded by Major Arden Zevrin. The woman had
returned with an enemies list kilometers long, but
did not have the authority or the audacity to order
them herself. Instead, she forced the Grand Moff to
affix his signature to the orders, and use his
authority to carry them out. Some were indeed Rebel
sympathizers, but others were the enemies of rich
nobles who flattered Zevrin, while others were
merely women who had outshined her at one of the
Ringali Shell's many noble affairs. It sickened him,
but each death he ordered went towards keeping his
daughter alive. He pressed his thumb to the datapad,
setting in motion the chain of events that would
lead to the deaths of everyone on the list, and the
further sullying of his good name. He reached
towards the bottle of Alderaan ruge ... one of the
last in the galaxy ... as his shaky hand poured
himself a glass. He devoured it quickly, giving no
time to savor it, before placing his head down on
the desk in front of him. If only Liliya were here
to comfort him, he thought to himself, which caused
him to realize that she had been absent since they
arrived aboard the Retributor. He had neglected her
due to his own focus on Jelena and the torment the
ISB had subjugated him to, but now he was determined
to check on her. Rising from his desk feeling
lightheaded from the lack of sleep and excess drink,
he began to move from his office towards the
corridor that would ultimately lead to the lovely
Liliya's lair.

The transition from the Warspite to the
Retributor had not been an easy transition for
Liliya Benedt, in fact, it had been downright
atrocious. The ship was absolutely massive and
extremely easy to get turned around due to not yet
knowing the layout. It was so easy to get from one
area to another on the Warspite, the turbolifts
being easily accessible, but on such a large vessel,
one had to traverse along the length of the mighty
starship just to get to one area before taking a
turbolift and continuing once again down the length.
If she were human, it would have been an exhausting
affair, and she was not quite sure how the rest of
the crew was going to adapt. However, Liliya had yet
to fully explore the ship, nor had she even been
outside her own room for days. Holed up like a
recluse awaiting a package to arrive, but when it
did... she had been too shy and unsure of herself to
go retrieve it. She was at the tender mercies of
some kind soul, who she hoped would take it upon
themselves to deliver her package.

When Liliya had first began to unpack her
belongings a few days prior, she had been
unfortunately reminded of the words Arden Zevrin had
so brutally told her. Every article of clothing she
had owned was the same black merino dress. And
although it was very nice quality, and complimented
her figure perfectly, apparently humans felt that
was not appropriate to wear the exact same thing
every day. During her entire stay on the Warspite,
no one had ever once mentioned this to her. The
thought of being ridiculed unknowingly this whole
time horrified her, she was so willing to please,
nearly desperate even, as it was the major component
of her programming. Not only that, but it became
clear that others felt even less of her by believing
there was something unprofessional between herself
and her charge. Liliya could not even bare to look
at those dresses and she had found herself spending
hours of lost time weeping bitterly into her hands.
Hours she had spent not knowing what to do, and
unwilling to set foot outside of her room least
others saw her continue to wear the same outfit, and
she didn't even have anything else to wear, so she
found herself trapped helplessly in her room for
days.

Finally her package had arrived, or so she
assumed. Some helpful and merciful being was
activating her room's buzzer. As excited as she was,
Liliya could not answer the door because ... she was
still wearing the black dress and could not let
anyone see her wear it. After a few minutes of
waiting impatiently, and with no further sound, she
figured the person had left, hopefully leaving the
package. The door ever so slightly slid open,
allowing the woman to peek cautiously out into the
hallway. Eyes shifted both ways to ensure no one
would witness her mad dash to get the box and then
rush back inside her room. With the box secured and
in the safety of her dwelling, Liliya quickly opened
the package to reveal a whole new wardrobe of
various colors and designs. Now, she did not know
what was terribly fashionable, but she was going to
give it a shot. At least no one could say she *only*
owned a single outfit. She spent the next few hours
trying on different combinations of articles until
she settled on one she really liked. Liliya figured
that because she had constantly wore black, that she
should try the opposite spectrum and wear a creamy
white. This dress had a really charming floral
pattern as well. Determined to show everyone that
she could improve herself, she changed her outfit
quickly, checked her hair and then grabbed her
datapad before rushing out of the door with a
newfound rejuvenating energy.

It was at this moment that a tipsy Claudius was
making his way down the corridor toward Liliya's
quarters. His head was lowered so that the officers
he encounters would not see his rose colored cheeks
or glossy eyes, in an attempt to conceal just how
his appearance had suffered since the unwelcome
return of Arden Zevrin. Out of the corner of his
eyes he saw a woman in white approaching, but he did
not think much of it until he was already upon her.
He lifted his head for only a moment to offer a fake
smile at the woman, but did not notice her, and kept
walking. It took the man's intoxicated brain to
process the fact that it was a Liliya, which caused
him to stop dead in his tracks in the corridor. He
turned swiftly, looking at the woman who was wearing
a new outfit for the first time since he met her
back on Coruscant following his elevation to Grand
Moff. "Liliya?" he asked, almost in disbelief, as
his eyes roamed over the white dress that clung to
her borderline malnourished frame. "I-I didn't
recognize you," he stammered awkwardly, as he closed
the distance between them. Liliya wears black he
thought to himself, but this dress was white ... his
brain was having difficulty processing the change.

Now that the aid was free of the prison that had
been her room for the past few days, she had been on
a direct route to check on her charge, Governor
Rodney, just in case the man thought she had
perished. She did feel awfully guilty for not
accomplishing her duties recently, but she just
could not bare the idea of hushed ridicule
compromising her responsibilities and her character.
These tasteless rumors needed to stop, and Liliya
figured the only real way to get a positive reaction
from others was to activity engage them in
conversations. If she managed to actually befriend a
large portion of the staff, something she wholly
neglected before, then hopefully a more beneficial
and constructive opinion of Liliya could replace the
less befitting ones. She was so caught up in her new
goals that she walked right past the man she was on
her way to meet. It was only when Claudius called
out to her that Liliya turned around in surprise and
embarrassment. "Milord! I'm sorry. I was just on my
way to meet you." She paused, a bit humbled that he
noticed her change in attire. A slight flush of red
highlighted her cheeks and her eyes cast downwards
timidly. She was very much hoping he would approve
of her attempt at trying a new outfit. A bit of
white fabric was smoothed out and tugged into place
shyly. "Do you ... do you like it?"

The Governor looked at her with all the affection
he could muster, as he viewed her as the last pure,
untouched object in his life. He was speechless as
he beheld her image in the angelic white dress. He
brought his right hand up to cup her chin and gently
caress the side of her face. "I've missed you," he
said quietly, weakly, as he looked at her longer
than any man should, his voice sounding as if he
were in a far off land. "Oh of course I like it,
Liliya," he said to her, as his thumb circled her
cheek repeatedly, in a soft, gentle touch. Finally,
his hand withdrew, and he smiled sweetly at her once
more. He had forgotten the hardships he was up
against the Major Zevrin and his daughter, and as he
stood there in his drunken trance he felt all was
right with the world.

Major Kerrie Kiley had been searching for the
Governor after coming to his office and finding
nothing but an overturned, empty bottle of liquor.
She went first to sickbay, but did not find the man
at his daughter's side. Nor was he in his personal
quarters with his wife and children. In her mind,
that left only one place he could be, and one person
he could be with. She was none too pleased with
Liliya she was assigned as his civilian aide,
stripping her of most of her own duties as the man's
military adjutant. She came up behind Claudius, her
carefully mimicked human face glaring at the young,
petite Alderaanian in her new white dress. She could
smell the liquor on him. Their command was once
again descending into madness. "You were supposed to
be watching him!" she said to Liliya, losing her
patience, and stepping in between the two of them.
"Maybe if you spent a little less time dress
shopping this wouldn't be happening," she said,
glaring angrily at her, before turning her attention
to the Governor. She raised her hand to the
Governor's head, feeling his warmth and trying to
steady his drunken, shaking body. "I just left
Doctor Tohan. He has preliminary report on Jelena
... *your daughter!*," she said, loudly, and
obnoxiously, while her eyes locked in Liliya.

Lieutenant Allegra Ames dutifully marches down
the corridor of the Retributor, cradling a datapad
that brought with it the latest reports from the
fallout from Major Zevrin's ruthless retaliation.
Public opinion was down on Brentaal, Chandrila, and
Esseles, as the Imperial Stormtroopers were turned
wild committing executions, shuttering businesses,
and even committing wanton acts of violence and
destruction. She stopped before she rounded the
corridor, upon hearing the beginning of Kerrie's
rant. Her hand was quick to activate the recording
rod affixed to the datapad. This was going to be
good, she thought to herself, as she began recording
the ensuing drama, while hiding around the corner
out of sight. A wicked grin curled upon her lips as
she imagined the Stormtrooper tearing apart the
cupcake and ruining the Governor's last joy.

Liliya looked up to Claudius with apologetic eyes
and heavy guilt that she had neglected him, and now
she saw the effects of it, a drunken depression.
This man clearly needed her assistance, and even
though this whole operation was her cover, she took
it seriously and sincerely felt obligated to serve
him. Just seeing his sad condition due to her
absence broke her heart. "I am so sorry, Milord,
please forgive me. I... my excuses are not even
worthy to mention." Liliya was about to continue but
she was heavily startled by Major Kiley bursting in
between them, and it was so abrupt that Benedt
stumbled backwards off balance and nearly lost her
footing. She was shocked, taken by surprise but also
a bit fearful of the brazen anger coming from the
Major directed at her person. Instinctively, she
heavily flinched behind her datapad that was brought
up almost like a shield, before eyes glanced over
the brim of the duraplast towards the officer. "I..
I know." She stammered at the direct accusation,
realizing that it was true, and that part of this
blame fell upon the secretary. Feeling the need to
make amends for her shortcomings, she spoke up
quickly, trying to regain some of her footing. She
did not want to lose all of Kerrie's trust and
respect, what little there must be remaining. "I can
go receive the report for the Governor." And perhaps
that was the best course of action, considering
Claudius' current condition.

Claudius swiftly brought his hand up in an
attempt to physically discipline Major Kiley, but he
caught himself at the last moment when he spied the
innocent eyes of Liliya peering over her datapad.
Jelena ... he had almost forgot with all that had
been going on. He wanted to go, but he also did not
want her to see him like this. It was this kind of
behavior that had alienated him from her in the
first place. He sighed, sinking down into his own
self pity, before taking a couple of steps backward
to use the wall as a back brace. "Would you ...
would you be so kind, my dear?" he said, sweetly, as
his brown eyes lay heavy upon her delicate form. He
did not acknowledge Major Kiley, neither verbally or
with even a glance of his eyes. As far as he
considered there was only one person there worth his
time, and that was Liliya. He tried his best to
force his tired lips to curl upwards into a smile.
He was so irritated that Kerrie had interrupted
their interlude that it took all of his powers to
smile at the moment.

When Major Kiley first encountered Claudius
Rodney in orbit of Ithor years ago he was a far
different man. The man she saw before her was barely
recognizable, softened first by Htaere, and now
turned into a kitten by this Liliya. He had gone
from a competent old man to a lonely old man chasing
women only slightly older than his own children. It
was not something she understood, nor something she
could accept. She inhaled sharply as the man
prepared to backhand her, closing her eyes, and
flinching. He had done it before, but not for some
time ... Htaere had put an end to it. When she heard
him speaking only to Liliya she knew the man was
lost, and she was wasting her time. She turned,
shooting a glare so intense at Liliya that she
momentarily lost her concentration and revealed the
grey skinned reptile-like Clawdite appearance that
lay beneath. The nonverbal message had been sent,
and she silently marched off down the corridor
fairly confident that the Governor would not even
realize she was ever there. The little bitch had
supplanted her, rendering her obsolete. She was a
tool without a purpose.

Liliya caught the full brunt of that devastating
glare at her person and it very much frightened her.
While she fully understood the complaint at the
given moment, she did not fully understand why the
Major had a constant distaste for her. It appeared
to only be getting worse and the secretary was
starting to get rather fearful of that woman. Though
she had wanted to reach out to all of the notable
members of the staff, she worried that if alone with
the Major, there might be opportunities for harm
upon her person. She could only watch silently with
an apprehensive gaze as the Major walked off leaving
the two of them alone in the hallway. Liliya did not
feel right just leaving the poor Governor by himself
in an off-center drunken stupor, he needed to be
escorted, it was only right and professional.
"Milord, would you like for me to accompany you back
to your office before I handle the medical report?"
She asked him sweetly, hoping to quickly smooth over
any ill feelings that may have just been unearthed
with Kerrie's intrusion.

"Yes. Please. I would like that very much,"
Claudius said to her, having not noticed Kerrie's
glare, nor her departure. He reached out with his
hand, taking her smaller one into a sweep embrace,
and began walking down the corridor towards the
necessary turbolift. His public display of holding
her hand caused quite the stir among the officers of
his new command ship, but he did not notice what was
going on. As they moved down the corridor he
suddenly realized he had gotten lost, having not yet
had a chance to familiar himself with the deckplans
for the newer vessel. Eventually he turned around,
walking Liliya down the corridor in the opposite
direction, past the same confused officers, as if
they were on a Sunday stroll along a lake. He was
doing little to inspire confidence in the new crew,
but he eventually came towards the right turbolift
that would lead towards his office. "Without you I
would not be able to endure this," he confessed to
her, in a rare display of vulnerability when they
had the privacy of the lift.

Eventually they returned to his office, whose
darkened lights might afford him a nap. "Thank you.
Thank you so much," he said to her, before allowing
his head to descend, placing the softest of kisses
upon her cheek. "Please see to my daughter," he said
to her, as he moved both of his hands towards her.
He took her hands into his, giving them a reassuring
squeeze, as his brown eyes gazed into her synthetic
ones sympathetically, unaware of who or what she
truly was. He was far too enamored by the beautiful,
innocent woman to think or act rationally around
her.

As they walked down the hallways, hand-in-hand,
Liliya could not help but to blush with heavy
embarrassment as every single officer they passed
stopped what they were doing to gawk and whisper to
each other as they strolled by. It was even worse
when they had to turn right back around and go down
the exact same hallways in an encore of mild
humiliation. It was very clear now to Liliya that
these sorts of experiences were exactly why there
were so many untrue rumors spreading around as
easily as the crew breathed. At this moment, it
could not be helped, and the secretary did her best
not to make eye contact too often with the
onlookers. It was unfortunate that Claudius was a
tad too lush with alcohol and indifference to care,
and she doubted he even noticed what commotion he
was stirring. Perhaps she could gently and
respectfully bring this topic up later when he was
more capable of understanding. But for now, she
could do nothing but humor his desires.

At last, the door to his office came into view
and there was a nearly audible sigh of relief that
they made it, but very likely that some damage had
been done. At least now Liliya was beginning to
better understand why she was the focus of ire from
others. "Of course, Milord. I only regret that I
neglected my duties for so long." She was certain
she would not fail him in such a way in the future.
That reassuring squeeze was returned, as if to say
that she would always be there for him, before she
quietly and softly pulled away. She had duties to
perform again, it felt... good. A delicate smile was
afforded to her superior as she awaited his
permission for her departure.

"You have neglected nothing, my beautiful Liliya,"
Claudius said softly, as he finally released his
hands from her. "Now go, and see to Doctor Tohan,"
he said, as he parted ways with her and moved back
towards his desk. "...but don't stray too long," he
said, with slight sadness in his voice, as he
flopped roughly into his chair. He breathed heavily
as he sat in the chair, leaning forward and placing
his arms out in front of him on the desk. He
overlaid his arms, making a sort of pillow before
laying his head down upon it. Before he was even
gone the sound of obnoxious snoring began to fill
the office, as he faded off into a drunken
dreamscape where he imagined his young aide in a
manner he dared not make happen in reality.